Will you still need me?

21 May 2015 - 02:09 By Katharine Child

A young American couple on the brink of marrying have been aged by make-up artists in a bid to answer the universal question: Will you still to love me when I'm old and grey? A video showing what they will look like when they have been married for 50 years, called 100 years of beauty/ageing, has been viewed more than 10million times since it was uploaded on YouTube on May 14.In the video the couple, identified only as Kristie and Tavis, both in their late 20s, are transformed into their 95-year-old selves. They have known each other since they were teenagers."It's a chance for my parents to see what I would look like when they're gone," said Kristie."I'm going to look just like my mom," she said when she saw herself as a 50-year-old.Said soon-to-be-hubby Tavis: "Wow, you're an attractive 50-year-old. I hope you look like this."I'm going to start using sunscreen," he joked, when he saw what he might look like at 50.When the two saw themselves as they are likely to look in their 70s, with grey hair, they became emotional."I can't help thinking about what the past 50 years were [like]," said Kristie with tears in her eyes.Tavis replied: "What would have happened in between for us to still be together."Johannesburg make-up artist Renate Willems said that when people are aged with make-up their physical characteristics must be taken into account. People with fairer skin tend to wrinkle more because of their greater sensitivity to the sun and because their skin is drier than average.A make-up artist looks at where wrinkles are naturally forming around the eyes and mouth and makes them more pronounced perhaps by using latex artificial skin, said Williams.The skin gets greyer, looser, duller and less elastic with age.The worse the bags are under the eyes, the more wrinkles artists will create.Lips lose their definition and colour and blend into the face. Women's eyelids tend to droop."There is more hair when you get older, not on the head but in the nose and ears, and on the eyebrows."Tavis's eyebrows became bushier, greyer and more noticeable."I don't age well," he exclaimed."Do you think you will still be sexually active?" the couple were asked when depicted as 95-year-olds."No, we will be too tired," said Kristie."I will still try," rejoined Tavis.At the end of the video Kristie looks at 95-year-old Tavis and says: "I couldn't be more sure that this is what I want."Then the wrinkly two kiss and Kristie laughs about how thin her lips have become...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.